The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-10-27

benedictiOn: 1.-The peace of God rest upon you"
One of the beatitude5 is, Blessed are the peace
makers" On the night of the nativity of our
Savior the angels sang peace on earth and
goodwill to men," What, then, does Christ
mean when he says: Think not that / am
come to send peace on earth. came not to
send peace, but the sword? Christ is known
as our Captain. We are soldiers of the Cross.
Our mission, like that of st. Paul, is to fight
the good fight. 1t is through the conflict Of
physical forces that we discern the beautiful
harmony of nature. The world is great bat
tlefeld. Systems of religion are in combat.
But the result will be the reign of peace in the
form of broad liberalism, sumptuous toler-
ance, more deep piety. The labor forces of
earth are at swords points but there will re-
suit settled and consistent and accepted prin-
ciple, giving peace instead of strife, concilia-
tion instead of strikes, harmony instead of
anarchy, unity instead Of socialism, individual
homesteads instead of fmpersonal real estate,
fair wages for honest work, with mutually cor
dial relations between employers and employees.
The sword in a sense is the symbol of peace.
when all is anarchy within,
To cut away the bands of sin,
And bring sweet death on earthly din,
Christ sends the sword.
when home. unlike the home He trod,
Leads us away from, not to, God,
In mercy comes the Christening rod
Christ sends that sword.
"when some dear object of our love
Scars from our arms to worlds above,
When riches flee, friends faiLhless prove,
He sends the sword
"Or when too bright the broad path smiles.
And Oft our step from Him beguies.
Straightway across those glad defiles
Flashes the sword
"'By this sign conquer!' Sword and shield
Are needful in the battlefield.
Be thou courageous; ever WELD
The Christ-like sword.
"Think. Christian. in each worldly loss,
How like the sword is to the cross;
Shining gold mid earthly dross-
Christ sends that sword"
Jesus was frank. man must be something
of philosopher to grasp the sayings of Christ.
To understand Jesus il is necessary to be able
TO be patient for results, to look at things far
of. to apprehend what the grand consequences
shall be of present confusion. We are too apt
to pause on the means, forgetting what the
effects shall be. Jesus was DESTROYS his follow
ers should have clear ideas of the ends to be
kept in mind as the objects of their tolls, but
he was determined they should also apprehend
the difficulties in the way calling for faith and
hope aud patience. and selfdenial. The ways
of pleasantness and the paths Of peace are
over on the other side of the battlefield.
God must be first. The Kingdom of Heaven
must be first. If the family be in the way of
one going to Christ, the seeker must overcome
the obstacle. Such families as exist in opposi-
ton to true religion must not take the prece-
dence Of loyalty to God and fidelity to the
Church. Temporary divisions must result.
When once Christianity has been introduced,
the family will be readjusted. 1t must be I'M
derstood, Christ had no intent of breaking up
families, but no relation is admissible which
prevents q man from loving and obeying his
Maker and Savior. Separation from the fam
lily was TO be last resort for the purposes of
peace. st. Paul insisted that, if it be possible,
q married couple, one of whom was Christian
and the other heather, must live with each
other, providing it can be done without the
Christian being forced to be idolatrous, dsobe-
dent to God and disloyal to Christ.
In early days it was not thought well for
women TO be missionaries, and, hence, one, con-
sciOus of duty TO be a missionary, frequently
denied himself domestic relations. We have
an Illustration in the case Of Henry Martyr,
showing the precedence in his heart of obeying
Christ even if at the expense Of suppressing an
ardent love for one whom he would have been
glad to wed. The biographer of Henry Mar
tyn, Rev. John Sargent, writes: at is due to
the full illustration of his Christian character
TO mention that it was not merely the ties OF
family or friendship which bound him to Corn
wall, England, his hOmel; others there were
of tenderer if not stronger kind for he had
conceived deeply-fxed attachment for one,
of whom less ought not, and more cannot be
said, than that she was worthy of him-an at
tachment which, whether he thought, as he
afterwards did. that it should be encouraged,
or as he now did, that from peculiar eircum-
stances il ought to be repressed-equally ex-
hibits him a man of God, whose affections
were set upon things above, and not on things
on the EARTH" He remained celibate through
life, dying in Persia.
We recall, as we study Verse 42, the incident
in which Sir Philip Sidney played such heroic
part. With mortal wound in his breast, he
had called for drink Of water. When, at
length, he had it in hand, he heard the cry Of q
dying soldier near by, and, instead of himself
drinking, pressed the cup to the lips of the
agonized sufferer. Such an act pays even in
the way of fame, which is after all no small
reward. Though 300 years have passed, that
act of selfdenial on the part of an officer for a
man in the ranks is yet fresh in memory.
All will be interested, as a comment on Verse
AZ, with the following incident: "a young
Englishwoman was sent to France to be edu-
Gated in Huguenot school in Paris. A few
evenings before the fatal massacre Of st. Bar
tholomew's day, she and some of her young
companions were taking walk in some part of
perhaps on the walls; and you know that when
a soldier is on guard he must not leave his post
until he is relieved; that is till another soldier
comes to take his place. One of the soldiers,
as the young ladies passed him. besought them
to have the charity TO bring him little water,
adding that he was very i'll, and it would be as
much as his life was worth to go and fetch it
himself. The ladies walked on, much offend
ed at the man for presuming 10 speak to
them-all but the young Englishwoman, whose
compassion was moved, and who, leaving her
party, procured some water and brought it to
the soldier. He begged her to tell him her
name and place Of abode, and this she did.
When she rejoined her companions some
blamed and others ridieuled her attention to
a common soldier; but they soon had reason
to lament that they had not been equally COM
passionate. for the grateful soldier contrived on
the night Of the massacre to save this young
Englishwoman, while all the other inhabitants
of the house she dwelt in were killed"
case is at hand, furnished by our last war,